Many components used in microelectronic assemblies include fine leads which are used for connection to other elements of the device. For example, as taught in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,148,265; 5,148,266; 5,489,749; 5,536,909; 5,518,964 and 5,619,017 and PCT Publication WO/94/03036 the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein, a microelectronic connection component may include a large number of electrically conductive terminals and leads disposed on a suitable support such as a dielectric sheet or a composite element including both metal and dielectric layers. The leads may include connection sections projecting beyond edges of the support or across apertures in the support. The connection sections may be bonded to contacts on a semiconductor chip to thereby connect the chip contacts to the terminals on the component. Most often, the leads are formed principally from a metal such as copper or a copper-based alloy. As disclosed, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,470, it is often desirable to provide a layer of a cover metal over some or all of the surfaces of the principal metal portion of the lead. Depending upon the particular application, the cover metal may provide enhanced properties such as easier bonding of the leads to chip contacts or other structures; enhanced fatigue resistance; or enhanced corrosion resistance.
One common procedure for making leads on a support utilizes a thin conductive layer, typically copper, on a dielectric layer such as a dielectric layer of a rigid circuit panel or a flexible circuit panel, commonly referred to as "tape." A layer of photoresist is applied over the conductive layer and patterned using conventional photographic processes to provide a series of openings in the form of elongated slots at locations where the leads are to be formed. The slots in the photoresist leave portions of the conductive layer at the bottom of each slot exposed. The principal metal such as copper is then deposited in the slots, typically by electroplating the principal metal onto portions of the conductive layer exposed within each slot. The principal metal deposited within each slot fills the bottom portion of the slot. A layer of the cover metal is deposited onto the top surface of the principal metal deposit, facing away from the support, by a further electroplating step. The photoresist is removed and the part is exposed to an etchant which will attack the conductive layer, thereby removing the conductive layer from regions between the leads. In a variant of this process, a layer of the cover metal is deposited on the conductive layer within each slot before deposition of the principal metal, so as to form a cover metal layer on the bottom surface of each principal metal deposit, facing toward the support. After the etching step used to remove the conductive layer, further cover metal may be deposited onto all of the lead surfaces, as by a further electroplating, electroless plating or immersion plating step.
Typically, the etchant which is used to remove the conductive layer will not attack the cover layer appreciably but will attack the principal metal. The cover layer on the top surface of the principal metal will protect the principal metal from the etchant to some degree. A cover layer on the bottom surface can also provide some protection. However, the vertically extending edge surfaces of the principal metal are not covered by the cover metal, and these surfaces are attacked by the etchant. Loss of principal metal results in a lead having an irregular cross-sectional shape and "undercutting" or removal of principal metal from beneath the top cover layer, leaving portions of the top cover layer projecting laterally at edges of the lead. Moreover, the principal metal in the finished lead will have cross-sectional area smaller than the cross-sectional area of the original principal metal deposit. All of these phenomena tend to weaken the lead, and to reduce its electrical performance. These phenomena are subject to some variability depending on variations in the etching process. These phenomena and variations in these phenomena are more significant in the case of fine leads, with small nominal cross-sectional dimensions. Thus, there has been a need for a lead-forming process which will alleviate the problem of edge surface undercutting.
Other metallic elements are also formed by processes similar to the lead-forming process discussed above. For example, metallic terminals are often formed on supports using a process which is the same as the conventional lead-forming process discussed above, except that the openings in the photo resist layer may be in the form. of circular discs, squares, ovals or other desired terminal shapes rather than elongated slots. The openings used to form the terminals may be connected with the elongated slot like openings used to form the leads, so as to form the terminals integral with the leads. Etching of the terminal edge surfaces presents the same problem as discussed above with reference to the leads. Similar problems can occur in formation of still other conductive elements, and hence there has been a similar need for a fabrication procedure which alleviates these problems.